


Spilled Milk

by Gingernutting



Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: Gen, Keith and Red bonding, Mama Lion Red, Will edit later, i just need more fics of the paladins hugging their lions plz, literally just Keith hanging out with Red, mentions of Keith's father, napping in the cockpit
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-02-07
Updated: 2017-02-07
Packaged: 2018-09-22 17:43:09
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,377
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/9618374
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Gingernutting/pseuds/Gingernutting
Summary: Keith's favourite part of the day: chilling out with Red.





	

 

Once he was sure no-one else would see him in the dimly lit hallways, Keith turned the corner, bare feet slapping on the cool ground, with his pillow hugged to his chest and his blanket hugged around his shoulders like a cape, his hipbags and phone slipped into the waistband of his shorts. Good thing he still had it in his hipbag when they left Earth. Sure, he had no-one to call, and it’s screen was cracked and held together with sticky tape, but it was comforting to have it on his person. That and it had a few hours worth of music on it. Checking over his shoulder again, he ran his palm over the wall, feeling for a dip in the metal, then pushed his hand in. The wall panel flashed a pale blue and split open, opening into darkness, but like a match lighting up, turquoise blue lines flashed on the floor, spreading and dipping into a spiralling staircase, thin lines the same colour glowing on the walls and glinting off the grey of the metal. Keith liked to think that he was the only one who used these stairs, it was the only direct route to a hidden cupboard in Red’s hangar (which he found upon total accident). It was more of a secret passage really, but the Castle was always full of surprises, and each little thing he stumbled upon seemed new and unique. With every descending step he took, the walls and ceiling seemed to compress, until it led into a small door with soft white light shining through the cracks. Keith kicked his legs through the door, shuffling out through the door with a few grunts, until he was lying on his back on the cold floor.

 The lights in the hangar softly glowed to life, but only the smaller lights, giving the room a red haze and a comfortable level of dimness. Keith smiled at the all-too-familiar low purring in the back of his head.

 “Hey Red. Mind if I stay here again?”

 Red crouched down and rested on her front, her paws stretch out in front of her and chin resting the ground, like a cat back on Earth would sprawl on a carpet.

  _“You already know my answer.”_ She bounced back, her voice husky and low.

 Keith had done this so many times, he didn't even really have to ask. Sleeping with Red was always nice. He wasn't sure why, but just having her motherly presence in the room was soothing, and she didn't mind him sleeping on her large paw, despite it being made from metal. Keith threw his pillow, hipbags and blanket up on her paw, and climbed up with his phone in his mouth, digging his fingers into the nooks and crannies of her joints and swinging his leg up to find a foothold to pull himself up. It was a good nine foot climb up, but nothing he couldn't handle.

  _“It’s been a quiet day today, I take it you’ve been training?”_

 Keith nodded, pulling his blanket back over his head and shoulders, unlocking his phone to play an old song, setting his list to shuffle. Thank god Pidge had a spare cable with her that could charge through her laptop.

 “Yeah, an’ far too many ‘team bonding exercises’.” He spat. Well okay, the physical exercise was something he didn't mind, but Lance’s idea of a human pyramid was a bit too much for him, (goddamnit Allura thinking it would a great idea as well) ending in him getting a face full of ass and Pidge getting a new bruise to add to her collection.  

  _“Yeah, from the sounds of it the ‘pyramid’ didn't catch on.”_ Red said with a hint of amusement.

 “No kidding. You been up to anythin’ today?”

 Red seemed to hum as she was thinking. _“Nothing much. Gossiped with my sisters, and three new galaxies were born today, each with six planets.”_

 It still amazed Keith that she could detect all that from literal light years away. That, and even though she had a more reserved nature, she would never pass up a chance for future blackmail or to share a laugh with a close friend. Keith popped open his hipbags, emptying one out onto the white pillow, the tinkle of jewellery and stones bringing a smile to his face. He wasn't sure when he had picked it up as a habit, but he had always had an eye for things that caught the eye. More specifically, small precious stones, jewellery and odd trinkets he found back when he was in the desert living in a run-down shack. In the other bag it contained his wallet complete with a couple dollar notes and countless receipts, and a small vial of metal cleaner and a dirty yellow rag the size of his palm. He picked up a ring, a rose gold ring with a line of diamonds in the middle, a little something that he picked up in a Flea Market for five dollars, and tipped some of the liquid on his rag, rubbing it in circles over the metal until it shone a little brighter. That ring was like a little labour of love, something to pass the time with, for something that was almost completely black when he picked it up, it sure was shining now. He moved on to another thing, this time a necklace, a long silver chain with a white stone set in silver on the end, but when the stone was tilted in the light, blue green and red flecks all sparkled. This one he got in exchange for illegal work. Technically he was supposed to be paid in cash, but at the offer of the necklace, his unreasonable side kicked in and he said ‘yes’ without thinking. He still found it enjoyable to polish the silver until it was presentable.

  _“That’s a nice stone, what is it?”_ Red asked, her tone filled with curiosity.

 “I think it’s an opal, my dad told me ma loved them. Actually-” Keith stopped in his tracks and sifted through the piles of metals and stones, pulling out a plain gold band. He clenched it in his palm and dug his fingers into the pile, fingers searching for a particular piece, one that was very unique and was Keith’s favourite piece, something that he couldn’t afford to lose. He exhaled a sigh of relief when he found it, and pinched it between his fingers to hold it to the light. Another ring, slightly bigger than the other one, but instead of being a plain gold, it looked like a small branch, and a tiny blue opal was nestled where the delicate branches met at the top. Red made a sound of interest, and he could feel her studying it with her large yellow eyes.

  _“Well that really is something.”_ She stated, and he tilted and turned it so she could see the colours in it, the speckles of pinks and greens.

 “I-I never met her, but my dad told me it was my mother’s, the gold one was his. They never married, it was more of a...promise ring.” Keith explained.

 He didn’t know his father for very long, barely for five of his nineteen years, but for some reason he still remembered the day his dad settled him on his lap and pulled out a crinkled brown paper bag he always kept on his bedside table, and pulled out the ring for him. _‘This was your mama’s, Keith, she loved this stone th’ best.’_ He had said. _‘Pwetty.’_ he remembered replying, holding the ring in his tiny hands where it fit snugly in his cupped palms, _‘was mama pwetty?’_ he also asked. _‘Yeah, she was th’ most beautiful bein’ I had ever met. You’ll see her one day, kiddo, an’ ya know what? She’s gonna love ya lil’ rascal so much!’_ His dad cooed back, rubbing his thick hair with that firmness only a dad could do.

  _“Humans are funny creatures, but it’s a sweet gesture.”_ Red sighed, watching Keith’s fading memory like a movie, or rather a stranger watching his life through a dirty window. _“He seems like a lovely human, how much do you remember?”_

Keith shrugged. “I-I don’t know.”

 He took in a deep breath and paused to close his eyes, digging away at every sound he recollected, dusting off the corners of his mind. Everything felt blurry and fuzzy, but the feelings were still there. The sound of his father singing as he cooked porridge with golden syrup for their breakfast in a cramped shack when he was four, the feeling of warmth and protectiveness as he was hugged tightly to his chest after a bad dream when he was three, even though they slept in the same room a bed and a cot apart, how he did his best to sing along with him, who was playing a worn old guitar repaired with glue and duct tape, the strings plucked lazily, how his dad told him through the tears one night how he looked just so much like his mother. They were barely snapshots, but it only really occurred to him now just how precious those memories were, sharing them with Red like this, his dagger, the rings and his memories. They were all he had left.

 When Keith opened his eyes he didn't expect for a couple of stray tears to roll down his cheeks, and he could taste blood rolling into his mouth from his upper lip.

  _“Breathe in,”_ Red said, struggling to keep her voice level.

 Keith took a shuddering gasp, that seemed to tear through his throat and his vision blurred and danced. His eyes were barely half open as the next thing he saw was the roof of the hangar. The only thing he could feel was the painful lump in his throat and the blood that ran down his nose, a copper taste filling his mouth and the blood smeared itself across his cheek. His lips breathily murmured the words to a song now stuck in his head.

 “ _Y-you’ve got me...wrapped a-around your f-finger-”_ Keith slurred, the sound of his father's guitar softly playing a tune in the back of his mind. 

  _“Cub, breathe out.”_

 It was then he could feel something licking his face, erasing his tears and wiping away the blood, licking at his limp fingers. The thing seemed to bite into his collar, pulling him up to a position where he wouldn't be choking on his own blood. He groaned and when feeling returned to him he rubbed his temples and wiped his nose with the edge of his shirt. He’ll tell Shiro sorry about his shirt later.

  _“Keith, my cub, tell me you’re alright.”_

 He squeezed his eyes shut when his face was licked again. Well, it was a good wake-up, and it got his blood running.

  _“Please, tell me you're alright!”_

 Her voice panicked, and he slumped forwards.

 “Ugh...R-Red?” He slurred, coming face to face with a lioness, one with warm yellow eyes, red fur, and pearl-white markings that made patterns on her fur.

  _“My cub.”_ She whispered, hooking her chin over his shoulder and her paws supporting his lower back to lean into her. Keith sighed and hugged her back. Her fur was warm, and she felt...like home, for want of a better word. He let her hug him closely, and with her he felt so so safe.

 “Red...what was that?” Keith finally asked. He couldn't take that much emotion, it was like experiencing everything at once, but twice as intense. The strongest feelings were longing, sadness and love. All at once.

  _“Your sharings of memories...I’m so sorry you had to go through that. You’re barely a cub, but look how much you’ve seen. We took it too fast, too much for your body to handle.”_ Red answered, a heaviness dragging in her voice. _“Come on, let’s go somewhere nice. I’ll even let you take some snacks in the cockpit.”_

 Keith could barely open his mouth with the lump in his throat and the ache in his chest.

 “W-won’t the others find out? We’re not really supposed t-to leave th’ group.”

  _“Just for a few ticks. We’ll be back before they’re up.”_

 “If y-you’re sure, okay. Just gimme a tick.”

 Red rumbled deep in her chest and brushed her chin over his head affectionately.

  _“Take all the time you need, cub.”_

 

-

 

Once Keith was comfortable in the cockpit, hugging his pillow with his blanket over his head and shoulders, then did they shoot off towards the stars. Rock debris drifted around them, and with the lights in Red dimmed down, everything outside felt clearer.

 “‘S pretty.” Keith breathed, curled up in the chair watching the stars and the newly-formed planets. Already there was a large gas giant passing in front of them, barely formed but already half the size of Jupiter.

  _“We’re the first to be in this system. Why don’t you do the honours of naming it?”_ Red suggested. _“Just don’t be too immature, make it nice.”_

 What would Keith do? He didn't even know his father's first name, or his mother’s. So what should he name it? The giant was large and swirling almost every shade of red, even here the colour seemed to follow him everywhere, a colour that was always around him like a bee to a flower. Wouldn't it be fitting?

 “You can kill me for this, but what about Red?”

 He heard a sound like a chuckle from his lion.

  _“If that is what makes you happy, then so be it.”_ She declared, and with that a screen lit up, showing an approximate height of it and it’s coordinates, with RED boldly marked on top _._

 “Thank you.” Keith said, patting her console gently. “You’re the best kitty in the universe.”

 She purred lovingly at that, the room warming up ever so sightly.

 

-

  
It took them a while to eventually find Keith in the morning. At least he got to sleep in, curled up in Red’s cockpit, hugging a pillow with his blanket up to his armpits. He looked so peaceful none of them had the heart to move him.

**Author's Note:**

> Thank you for reading this far, please tell me how to improve! I'm still on my tumblr, and my fanfic blog is @gingernutting, and I am always up for a chat! (Comments also always make my day!)


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